EUREKA, a pan-European industrial R&D network, is partnering with the Eilat-Eilot International Renewable Energy Conference 2011. Comprised of 40 European governments, including the European Union, as well as commercial and research entities within the member countries, EUREKA promotes the principle of partnership aimed at advancing civilian industrial research and development. Its core concept is to promote marketable technologies for non-military application.
Israel is its only non-European member, joining in 2000. This year, Israel holds EUREKA’s rotating presidency, which was voted in three years ago. Israel Shamay is the Israeli Eureka Chairmanship Program’s National Project Coordinator and the Executive Director Cooperation Programs – Europe at Matimop – the Israeli Industry Center for R&D in the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry, where he manages European research programs, of which EUREKA is the largest.
Government and company representatives from all 40 countries have been invited to showcase their wares and propose projects at the Eilat Conference and the boards of the EUREKA clusters will convene their meetings in Eilat, concurrently with the Renewable Energy Conference.
The Eilat event is one of several events that are taking place during the year for Eureka members. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the EUREKA program.
David Schwartz, president of iConsortium, a long-time partner in the annual Eilat-Eilot international Renewable Energy Conference, has taken active part in the Conference planing since it began in 2007. Schwartz expounded on the importance of this event and the significance of EUREKA’s participation.
“Important in any national initiative or project is a nerve center or hub and that hub would have to demonstrate an holistic solution. The Eilat Region was the ideal setting and we have spent three years on a mission of persuading, and even perhaps doing some moralsuading [sic] to leaders in the energy field around Israel and around the world to make Eilat that nerve center.
“We added the energy savings component and are working hard to introduce a smart grid which would complete the whole energy model. We believed in the idea of ‘build and they will come’ and we have been seeing this happen.
This year the conference will be augmented by groups of European energy leaders through EUREKA’s partnering with the Eilat-Eilot Conference. iConsortium has also worked very hard on bringing Israeli energy companies together to integrate their technologies and services in order to be able to provide full energy solutions tailored to any given infrastructure.
“The Eilat-Eilot Conference has grown. Its first year was just over 300 participants, its second year, which had its energy efficiency component, was standing room only and had over 800 attendees, last year we reached almost 2000.
“The quality of the attendees is very high because coming to Eilat is an investment in time and money and therefore those who arrive, are among the most committed in the Industry and real business can occur because these people have either the technologies and products or the resources to buy and deploy them.”
The EUREKA program encourages research in a wide range of technological fields including telecommunications, water and, of course, energy, through an associational system of clusters. Within clusters, EUREKA combines at least four partners for every project to receive its grants funds. The four partners are usually private companies of two members’ countries and their respective governments. This kind of partnership arrangement is meant to reduce time-to-market through using the knowledge and laboratories that are already available. The risk involved in such endeavors is then shared as well. The internationally-recognized “EUREKA label” adds value to a project and gives participants a competitive edge in their dealings with financial, technical and commercial partners.
Shamay expounded on Israel’s standing in EUREKA.
“Israel has done extremely well through EUREKA. Almost 15 percent of all funded projects feature an Israeli participant. Israel’s agenda includes a number of related items…when a project completes its research and development phase, it still needs a lot of money. We’d like to extend EUREKA from the R&D phase and create a mechanism to mobilize funds from the private sector and create deal flow”.
Shamay is promoting this mechanism to bring EUREKA to the attention of potential investors and is in negotiations with the European Investment Bank to grant loans at special rates for EUREKA program participants. This year, EUREKA is planing 150 new projects, 23 of which are to include Israeli participation.
Shamay has also come out in favor of encouraging investment in cleantech in particular.
“Right now, investment is 40% in ICT [information and communications technology] 30% in biotech and medical technology, but the other areas have very little investment,” Shamay reports.
Among European EUREKA members, Israel is perceived as a model for encouraging hi-tech R&D. There is a great interest in Israel’s innovative technologies and cleantech in particular is looked upon to be an area with great potential.
One of the EUREKA meetings recently held in Israel included members of the Acqueau water technology cluster, which visited Mekorot’s Eshkol site for a workshop. Mekorot was elected to the advisory board of the EUREKA water technology cluster.
Israel has already attained significant successes within the framework of EUREKA projects, including innovative telecommunications technologies, a sophisticated emergency locator beacon, biological pesticides and dehydration-resistant corn, home control systems, and more.
